Assume this to be a confessional from someone who is a supporter of newspapers.

I am about to cancel my printed paper subscription. This decision is only a couple of weeks after I began receiving it to my home.

Am I disappointed with the publication? Did someone write an awful commentary that offended me? Did I lose my lifesavings and cannot afford the forty-odd-dollars a year? Is it because I am afraid that my favorite paper in print, the Rocky Mountain News, will leave me high and dry? The answer is no to all of the above.

The reason is much simpler than that. I am a tree hugger. A daisy sniffer. I ride the re-cycle-lane.

I am only receiving the paper a few times a week. On those days I grab my news out of its sleek plastic sleeve and lay it out on the counter next to the recycle bin--and begin sorting.

I read only a couple of sections, while the rest is used to line the guinea pig cage, or goes straight to Waste Management. Isn't that a word that describes it well?--Waste.

I subscribed shortly to the daily news in the early 1990's and stopped for this very same reason. At that time I missed it because there were few alternatives to the information and education I was receiving by the newspaper.

Nowadays I have access to all the local news I need through the internet, which has solved my little dilemma. Yet there are times when not having a newspaper becomes an issue (pun totally intended).

For example, when you show at some early bird special and every blue-haired lady and child has a coupon which was only available in print, or when my mother asks to cut out something crazy from Your Hub for her scrapbook.

So what do I propose?

I wish there was an a la carte newspaper option. Let me order the paper per section. I don't want the sports (although that probably is un-American), the business, the comics, the job ads, the ads, and the real estate guide.

Charge me for You Hub, the coupons and the News section.

It's a win-win. The paper can clearly charge more per section when a la carte, than if you order the whole enchilada. I, on the other hand, can appease my guilty conscience by only requesting into print what I use.

Please let me be a tree-hugging newspaper subscriber.

Until then I bid a reluctant farewell to the sweet smell of fresh printed ink on my breakfast table. It isn't good bye, it's until we meet again!